Mario Cristobal was an elite recruiter at Alabama from 2013-2016.

The former Alabama assistant and current Miami Hurricanes head coach also served as Saban’s recruiting coordinator during his time in Tuscaloosa. He was consistently rated as one the top recruiter in college according to 247, earning a No. 1 ranking each season he served as Alabama’s recruiting coordinator.

Nick Saban gave some insight into why on College GameDay Saturday morning. He insisted that when he and Cristobal would go to southern Florida schools to recruit (a hotbed for high school talent, by the way) Cristobal would consistently speak in Spanish. Saban finished with “I didn’t know what was happening.”

According to Cristobal, it was to protect Saban from the Dolphins fans:

Saban had a brief stint in the NFL with the Dolphins in 2005 and 2006. His time in the professionals was in no way comparable to his titanic resume in college; Saban finished 15-17 with a 9-7 season and a 6-10 season. He left for Alabama the following season.

Cristobal went the opposite direction, going from Alabama to Miami (with a pit stop in Eugene, Oregon). 2024 has been his best start yet with the Hurricanes, who are expected by many to be the ACC’s representative in the College Football Playoff.

Baby steps. The Hurricanes have to get past Cal first, an underrated team that downed Auburn earlier in the year. The Golden Bears and Hurricanes are set to face off at 10:30 p.m. ET from Berkely, California.